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  • The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames

  • A Memoir
  • Written by: Justine Cowan
  • Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
  • Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (6 ratings)

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The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames

Written by: Justine Cowan
Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
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Publisher's Summary

A riveting family drama evocative of Angela’s Ashes and The Glass Castle, about a woman who discovers the shocking secret at the center of her mother’s life.

Justine had always been told that her mother came from royal blood. The proof could be found in her mother’s elegance, her upper-crust London accent - and in a cryptic letter hinting at her claim to a country estate. But beneath the polished veneer lay a fearsome, unpredictable temper that drove Justine from home the moment she was old enough to escape. Years later, when her mother sent her an envelope filled with secrets from the past, Justine buried it in the back of an old filing cabinet.

Overcome with grief after her mother’s death, Justine found herself drawn back to that envelope. Its contents revealed a mystery that stretched back to the early years of World War II and beyond, into the dark corridors of the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children. Established in the 18th century to raise “bastard” children to clean chamber pots for England’s ruling class, the institution was tied to some of history’s most influential figures and events. From its role in the development of solitary confinement and human medical experimentation to the creation of the British Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts, its impact on Western culture continues to reverberate. It was also the environment that shaped a young girl known as Dorothy Soames, who bravely withstood years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a sadistic headmistress - a resilient child who dreamed of escape as German bombers rained death from the skies.

Heartbreaking, surprising, and unforgettable, The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames is the true story of one woman’s quest to understand the secrets that had poisoned her mother’s mind, and her startling discovery that her family’s fate had been sealed centuries before.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.  

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Justine Thompson Cowan (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

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  • CB
  • 2023-02-25

Incredible

A story as wrenchingly difficult to imagine, even greater to live.
Thank you for retelling this story.

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Visceral and hopefully radiates hope for healing

Bitter sweet, Sad but heroic.
Perspectives and self fulfilling needs seem to be the driving force for personal survival.
Let us not judge, nor know the needs of others.
Let us not determine others needs based on our perspectives. A very deep and emotional book of life. Human needs that remain the same through all of eternity, yet social norms… forget the common yet basic core needs that are dictated by nature. To Nurture… balanced with healthy but loving lessons of accountability undeniably brings more social community strength than any powerful regimented control for social order.
LOVE.




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